According to the Federal Government, naira-denominated sales of refined products and crude oil have begun.

It stated that the initiative started on October 1, 2024, but it did not elaborate on the specifics of the inked contract or the product’s cost.

This was revealed on Saturday by the Ministry of Finance in a post on its X handle, which was originally Twitter.

According to the statement, “the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira has officially commenced as of October 1, 2024, in line with the Federal Executive Council directive,” was made public by the ministers of finance and coordination of the economy.

Key stakeholders confirmed the start of this strategic initiative after the Implementation Committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance, met on October 3, 2024, to do a post-commencement evaluation of the Crude Oil and Refined Products Sales in Naira project.

President Bola Tinubu’s Federal Executive Council has approved the sale of crude to local refineries in naira and the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in naira, according to a statement made last month by the Technical Sub-Committee on Domestic Sales of Crude Oil in Local Currency.

The committee had announced that starting on October 1, NNPC will start providing the Dangote refinery with about 385kbpd, or 385,000 barrels per day, of crude oil, to be paid for in naira.

When asked on Sunday if the arrangement for the crude oil supply to the $20 billion Lekki-based facility was still in place, Mr. Dare Adekanbi, Special Advisor on Media to the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, replied in the affirmative.

However, Dangote and other refinery officials said on Thursday that they had no idea if the agreement had started.

When asked for updates on the naira-for-crude agreement between NNPC and Dangote, officials at the refinery, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and NNPC, among others, remained silent.

In September, the government gave an explanation of how the naira-for-crude project would help ease the strain on the naira, get rid of pointless transaction fees, and increase the country’s supply of petroleum products.

Adedeji had declared, “Since then, we, the technical committee, and the implementation committee led by the Minister of Finance have worked tirelessly with NNPC and Dangote refinery to fashion out the details of the modalities for the implementation of the FEC approval.”

The committee chairman and head of FIRS stated that starting on October 1, oil would be sold to Dangote in naira. He further stated, “In return, the Dangote refinery will supply PMS (petrol) and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market to be paid in naira.”

The Dangote refinery will sell diesel to any interested off-taker in naira. NNPC will be the exclusive buyer of PMS. Then, NNPC will sell to several marketers in the meantime. NPA, NIMASA, and other related regulatory fees shall all be paid in naira. To guarantee a seamless rollout of this program, we are also establishing a one-stop shop that will coordinate service provision from all regulatory agencies, security agencies, and other stakeholders.

The statement went on to say that the following officials attended the meeting: Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil); Zaccheus Adedeji, the Special Advisor to the President on Revenue; Olu Verheijen, the Special Advisor to the President on Energy; Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority; the Vice President of the Dangote Group; and the Chairman and Vice President of the Dangote Group, as well as the Vice President and Chairman of the Dangote Group representatives.